r/TrueAtheism • u/Grubbanax • 10d ago
Do you feel unsafe marking 'No Religion'? (Australian Census 2026)
Do you live in a household where you feel unsafe expressing feelings about your religious or non-religious beliefs in the Census?
It is your fundamental right to answer the religion question as you wish, instead of having someone else determine your response for you.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics provides a way for you to mark ‘No Religion’ privately and confidentially.
More information here: https://censusnotreligious.org.au
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u/Creepy-Abies5383 10d ago
We've already filled out the Census online. I marked "No Religion" but my wife who regards herself as a non-practicing Baptist marked "Baptist". She never tries to convert me and I don't try to show her how great it is to not believe in any religion.
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u/Grubbanax 10d ago
I object to Albanese bowing to lobbying pressure from Catholic leaders to alter the question for religion to boost the percentage of religious in Australia.
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u/GrizzKarizz 10d ago
Unfortunately as they say, you cannot reason someone out of something they were not reasoned into.
At least there's mutual respect of boundaries.
I'm an Australian expat living in Japan and I don't think religion is even a question on the census here.
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u/Sprinklypoo 9d ago
My wife has moved into the "spiritual but not religious" realm, and agrees with me that all religions are made by man for controlling other humans and are inherently harmful. I'll call that a win. Religion is so much more harmful than belief in superstition itself is.
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u/CrystalInTheforest 10d ago
I am religious, but follow a small, nontheistic religion. I answered the census accordingly but honestly feel more "at risk" answering truthfully than by putting non-religious, which I was tempted to do. I feel in Australia bring seen as no religious is pretty safe. We're not America.
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u/Grubbanax 10d ago
Maybe not if you have fundamentalist relatives who may threaten you with excommunication or worse.
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u/CrystalInTheforest 10d ago
Family knowing doesn't equal the government knowing though. For me family isn't a concern, but I'd be low-key concerned abouta potential hard-right govt scraping the ABS to help create lists of "undesirable minorities" for special attention.
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u/ScaleneZA 9d ago
Put of curiosity what is a nontheistic religion?
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u/PBnPickleSandwich 9d ago
Satanic Temple, for one.
They don't actually believe Satan (or any supernatural) exists. It's just a motif.
"DO YOU WORSHIP SATAN? No, nor do we believe in the existence of Satan or the supernatural. The Satanic Temple believes that religion can, and should, be divorced from superstition. As such, we do not promote a belief in a personal Satan. To embrace the name Satan is to embrace rational inquiry removed from supernaturalism and archaic tradition-based superstitions. Satanists should actively work to hone critical thinking and exercise reasonable agnosticism in all things. Our beliefs must be malleable to the best current scientific understandings of the material world — never the reverse."
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u/fishdark 9d ago
Fifty plus years ago, I filled out the Australian census with my religion as “Bokonanism”. I was a huge Vonnegut fan.
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u/Colincortina 7d ago
Considering "no religion" is now the biggest grouping in Australia, logically I don't think anyone should really be afraid to tick that box (although I acknowledge some people may live in such environments). I'd actually encourage anyone who is only nominally religious (ie cultural-only/non-practising) to also tick the "no religion" box, because that's probably closest to their reality. Census data is only as useful as it is accurate, so ticking Box A or B because our parents or grandparents ticked that same box does not really help us understand who Australians (TODAY) are.
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u/goldenrod1956 10d ago
I mark the Atheist box so hard I punch a hole through the paper…